20-October-2007, Saturday
The Benny Hinn meetings are the most cherished and memorable events of my life. The Presence of God is beautiful and the anointing so rich in these meetings. It’s a beautiful sight to see people accepting Jesus as their Savior and being healed of their sickness and disease. I love the way Benny Hinn enters the stage when the choir sings “How Great Thou Art”. As he leads the choir, God’s Presence descends in such a wonderful way.
In 2005, I attended the first Benny Hinn meeting at the World Cup stadium, where Pastor Benny was the guest speaker. The meeting was organized by Dr Yonggi Cho.
In March 2006, I attended a three-day meeting at the Seoul World Cup stadium, S Korea. Here is an excerpt of what I wrote in my diary after the attendance – “The day came and went. It was the most beautiful moment of my life. I loved each and every moment. I was in heaven. I don’t think I will get the privilege of seeing Benny Hinn so closely in my life……But I could hear the voice say to preach. And I remember the mighty Presence of God and the lady behind me crying with panting sounds as her breath touched me. It was the most beautiful moment when the Presence of God was so awesome. I was full of joy. I can still see the choir dancing and jumping. All the people clapping hands, worshiping. What a sight! It’s so beautiful to see people worshiping together and praising the Almighty Creator. I love to see that.”
In 2007, it was at a Presbyterian Church, Bupyeong, Incheon at 3 pm. On the day of meeting, I took the bus to the Suwon station from the Samsung office bus terminal, K1 at 12:15 noon and reached the station at 1 pm. Inside the station, I purchased a subway ticket from the ticket counter. As I was not aware of the platform to board the train, I asked a lady who was selling doughnuts. She directed me to the right platform.
I took the train at 1:15 pm. It was a long journey and I had to change station at 2 places. First one was at Guro and other one at Bupyeong, to reach Bupyeong Market. I reached the destination at 2:40 pm. I was looking for exit 4, when two Korean ladies approached me and asked me whether I was attending Benny Hinn meeting. They saw that I was new to the place and asked me to follow them since they were also attending the same meeting. Though I had the map, we asked a few people for the direction and finally reached the Church at sharp 3 pm.
When we reached the Church, the first two floors were full. The seats were occupied. The ushers guided us to the basement floor B2. I was upset that I couldn’t watch Pastor Benny face to face. I could watch only through a huge screen projector. I was seated in the second row.
After a brief introduction, Pastor Benny made the appearance. The atmosphere was electric when he spoke. We all stood up and gave him a big applause. He led the people in to worship – ” How great thou art”. It was beautiful. I could experience the power of God even though I was watching through the screen. But somehow, I really wanted to see him face to face.
Later he gave the message on the “Holy Spirit” and explained about Trinity – God, The Father – The Big Boss – The Planner. Jesus Christ – The Son of God – The Administrator. Holy Spirit – The third Person of the Trinity who creates all things.
The message was simple but powerful. I enjoyed the meeting. It was 6 pm when it got over.
After the service, I went with the Korean ladies to the place where the actual service was conducted. We decided to come early next day, Sunday to get a better seat. Later, we took the subway back home. From Guro, they went on the same line and I changed the station. It was around 9 pm when I reached the Suwon station. I took the Samsung bus and reached home around 10 pm. I had prepared veg biryani previous day and ate the food heartily. I was very tired and slept off immediately.
Sunday, 21-October,2007
At 10:30 morning, I left for the worship service at Onnuri Church. We had a beautiful worship time and people could experience the beautiful Presence of God. After worship, Brandon, David and I went to a coffee house. I had a small chocolate cake. It was 2:30 pm. We had planned to catch subway at sharp 3 pm but because of Greg’s appointment with the Youth Group, we could only catch at 3:30 pm. I wanted to be at the venue two hours early to get a better seat.
Since it was 3:30 pm when we boarded the subway, I thought we would be late but we reached Bupyeong at sharp 5 pm. When we reached the venue, I was stunned. There was a huge queue already to get inside the Church building. We waited for about 45 minutes and finally the door opened. People rushed in to catch the best seat and I was no exception.
For foreigners, the Church had reserved special seats. David, Greg and I sat in the reserved area for foreigners. It was the best place to watch Pastor Benny Hinn preach.
At 6 pm, the Korean Church choir started with Praise and Thanksgiving songs. It was in the Korean language but I enjoyed it. Time was 7 pm. Later few senior pastors spoke in Korean language and I was feeling bored since I couldn’t understand the language. Another one hour passed by and then Pastor Benny Hinn made the appearance. He led us in to the worship. I was ecstatic to see him directly instead of through the video projector as the day before.
He preached on the Power of the Blood of Jesus Christ- The Son of the Living God. It’s only through the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ, there is forgiveness of sin. We are saved, redeemed and restored only through the sacrificial blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. And finally, Pastor Benny led the people in to a deeper worship by singing the beautiful “Alleluia” song. The presence of God was wonderful. I could see people raising hands and singing with full heart.
But somehow, I was not excited.
People shared testimonies of being healed from cancer, arthritis, deafness. There was one Korean guy who came on stage along with his sister to be prayed for his healing. It is something rare. Usually, only the people who are healed are allowed to come on the stage. Nevertheless, Pastor Benny touched him and he fell under the power of God. He asked him, whether he could see clearly, but he said no. Later, Pastor Benny asked everyone to pray for him. But he said, there is no improvement in his eyesight. He left the stage. I was wondering why God didn’t heal him at that moment. Later I felt, God doesn’t have to prove His people that He is God by heeding our desires. He can convince even if things don’t work according to our desires. That was a marvellous truth I felt.
Later Pastor Benny asked everyone to clear the aisle. He will be walking and people will feel God’s power.
As he walked around the Choir, people felt the Power of God. And I was amazed to see people falling beautifully under the Power of God. He was walking down the aisle and as he touched the people, they fell under God’s power. The atmosphere was electric. I never thought, he would come beside me. All of a sudden, I saw Pastor Benny walking down the aisle where I was standing. He passed by me. I expected his touch but he touched another person. I thought I missed my chance. After few steps, all of a sudden he turned back. I saw him face to face. Our eyes locked for a moment. I could still see that face clearly. But there was tiredness around his eyes. He touched my face gently. I had seen people falling under God’s power. I was determined not to fall. But as soon as he touched me, God’s Power and Presence flowed over my body. I cannot describe the experience but it was so beautiful as if somebody opened the tap of water over me and I fell gently under God’s power on my seat. I started weeping uncontrollably.
I didn’t care about the people beside me. I had never wept publicly like that. I started praising and worshiping God. The power of God was so mighty that I could literally feel His power flowing through my hands. It was beautiful beyond description. It was a marvellous experience in my life. I felt like a blanket of His Presence all over me.
It was 10:45 pm when the worship ended. I was bit tensed because I didn’t want to miss the subway train. David and Greg had left earlier at around 9:30 pm.
As I walked out of the venue, I met one Korean guy and asked him for the direction to the station. He too had been at the meeting and walked till the station.
From Guro, I had to change the station. I was able catch the last subway to Byeongeom station after Suwon. It was 12:45 midnight when I reached my destination. I took a taxi from the station to my flat.
All the time on subway, I was thinking about the beautiful experience. I was so glad and excited to experience that Power. There was a man seated opposite to me, he must have thought me crazy, lost in my world 🙂
When I reached home, I had some fruits and slept off. I had to go office next day at 8 in the morning. I woke up early, feeling fresh and energetic. My life changed on Oct 21, 2007, a memorable event in my life, and an unforgettable experience.
